WiFi wireless issues upon restoring wifi connection
On occasion, my wireless router will be down... could be because I'm updating the firmware on the router, or due to some other issue or maintenance. When this happens, the RainMachine will not reconnect when the wireless signal is back up. When I physically go to the RainMachine and press some buttons on it, it will start to work again. I don't even have to change any setting on the RainMachine... simply pressing the home button and then swiping the screen seems to wake it up and cause it to reconnect.
Is this a known issue that happens to other people?
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I have the same exact issue. But it isn't always due to the router resetting. Initially my wireless connection was pretty stable but increasingly I need to go outside, and hit home and the unit reconnects with no problems. Perhaps the programmers could include an option to automatically reinitialize the wireless connection at a specified time each day . This will at least allow the unit to update its weather once a day .
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My HD-12 fails to reconnect properly to the WiFi network every time the WiFi goes down due to power outage, manual power recycle, firmware update, etc of the wireless router. After the router powers back up and other wireless devices around the house reconnect, the HD-12 is stuck in a frozen state and is shown as offline on the iOS app. Login on my.rainmachine.com is rejected with wrong password message even though correctly entered.
To resolve, I must manually reconnect it to the appropriate WiFi SSID on the HD-12 device itself, requiring travel to the site. This is very annoying and for me defeats the purpose of remote access.
I do have multiple WiFi SSID's at this location. But why doesn't the HD-12 just automatically reconnect to the SSID it was on before the outage, or any SSID for that matter?
I am on latest firmware and iOS app version.
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Do you need to specifically reconnect HD-12 by going to Settings > System > WIFI or it just reconnects when you touch the screen ? Does it reconnect if you reboot HD-12 ? Are there any repeaters on your setup ?
We are going to release a beta firmware soon that has an forceful reconnect in the case the system doesn't recover itself.
What you could try with current version:
1. Settings > System > Display > Check "Keep screen on but dim the display"
2. Forget all networks that you have previously connected. Connect to the chosen network.
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I forgot to mention in the post above, that when the HD-12 is stuck in this offline frozen state, there are repeated cycles of notifications sent to my iPhone of the RM being offline for 30 minutes, followed by a notification that the RM is back online. These notification cycles repeat at random times perhaps 10 or 12 times per day. The reconnection notification is usually within an hour of the 30 minute disconnection notice.
Even just after the notification occurs that the RM is back online, it really isn't and can't be reached either through the iOS app or my.rainmachine.com, as I described above.
Nicholas, thanks for the steps to try in your post above. I'll be trying to get my HD-12 back online later this morning. When do you think the pending firmware will be released to avoid this problem?
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Thanks, Nicholas. I don't think it is a signal issue, for a couple of reasons.
First, even immediately after the notice of reconnection is issued, the RM still can't be accessed remotely, either by iOS app or web login.
Second, to get a strong WiFi signal to the RM (located outdoors), I have installed a wireless access point inside the house exterior wall at a spot that is just 3 feet (through the wall) from the RM. When the RM is actually connected, it is just fine with this arrangement, with the RM indicating a WiFi signal of -45dBm or so. The problem is only that when the WiFi signal goes down for any reason and then is restored, the RM fails to reconnect.
If I recall correctly, the last time this happened, the RM did spring to life (and possibly reconnected) as soon as I touched the display. So your mention of the display sleep mode being potentially involved gives me some hope. And, I will also try your suggestion to have the RM "forget" extraneous WiFi SSID's that it may have connected to in the past.
But it strikes me that, overall, the RM firmware needs to be more robust as it relates to reconnection after a power loss and I'm hopeful that the beta firmware that you mentioned is a true solution. Is that beta firmware available to test?
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> First, even immediately after the notice of reconnection is issued, the RM still can't be accessed remotely, either by iOS app or web login.
This would be interesting to have more logs, after this issues happens could you please try to connect locally and check the status of "Remote access" ? This is shown on dashboard on web interface and on Settings > Remote Access on mobile apps. It should display. I will also ask the devops to investigate your connection log.
>But it strikes me that, overall, the RM firmware needs to be more robust as it relates to reconnection after a power loss and I'm hopeful that the beta firmware that you mentioned is a >true solution. Is that beta firmware available to test?
Not yet, we are adding some WIFI drivers for dual-band/high-gain adapters that must pass some tests first, but it's close to being released.
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Nicholas, my RainMachine HD-12 is now back online and currently running Zones for the next 3 hours.
The RM was in a frozen, offline state as descibed in earlier posts. The wrench icon was flashing. The main portion of the screen was off. At your suggestion, the main screen was touched first and came to life. Nothing changed on my remote iOS app even after waiting about 30 seconds. Then, the wrench icon was touched to get to Settings. While navigating the Settings, but before making any changes to WiFi or any other settings, the RM changed to online status on my remote iOS app. The RM was shown as being connected to it's usual WiFi SSID, with a signal strength of -54dBm. I tested irrigation on one zone by triggering it on my remote iPhone and it worked. In the Display settings, the checkmark was made manually for the setting to dim the display after 2 minutes. A full Program was then selected to run via the iOS app.
Does all of this indicate that the problem on restoring a lost WiFi connection has to do with the display going off?
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Nicholas, I see the newest beta has support for 3rd party wifi adapters. I currently have this issue wth my HD12 where it drops wifi connectivity and have to wake the screen for it to reconnect. If I leave the screen active like above it actually takes HD12 longer to reconnect to wifi when I manually try reconnect it. I'd like to try a third part high gain antenna to see if that would help remedy the issue. Do you have a list of supported wifi adapters?
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Hi Cole,
First try the new beta without a new adapter, we improved the WIFI reconnect methods. As for highgain we have it running with this dual-band/high-gain module:
P.S. The new beta .944 is now closed as it reached the number of users per day allowed, it will resume on 2018-06-19.
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Per the advice above, I had set my HD-12 to dim the screen but not turn off. I also had it "forget" the wireless networks other than the currently used SSID. Today, my cable modem/router went offline unexpectedly and was off for several hours before it was rebooted and came back online.
Just as before, the HD-12 remained offline even hours after the network wifi was back up. I went to the RM and pressed on the flashing wrench. I waited for it to come back online, but it didn't. I had to go into the RM's wifi settings and manually touch the connect button for the correct SSID. The RM then connected.
I too am hoping to try the beta firmware .944 when available, as the previous suggestions did not seem to work.
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Jim Weston, great idea! I am going to do the same.
Is there any difference between pressing Reboot in the RM GUI vs. just pulling the plug (in effect) by toggling the AC power via a smart plug? Does pulling and reinserting the plug (or toggling AC power with a smart plug) risk doing any damage to the RM?
Does the RM always properly connect to wifi when AC power is toggled off and on?
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hello everyone,
just wanted to bump this thread and to see if there is a fix planned. This issue still remains for me in 2020 and with latest firmware. I have a Touch HD & it remained offline even hours after the network wifi was back up. I went to the RM and pressed on the flashing wrench. I waited for it to come back online, but it didn't. I had to go into the RM's wifi settings and manually touch the connect button for the correct SSID. The RM then connected.
Sometimes my HD gets into "frozen state" and i have to power cycle it to get it back online. Any idea's how to fix it?
My Access point is 4 feet away from RM (distance or signal strength is not a problem), located in garage but i have it on a schedule to turn it off betweeen 1030pm-6:30am. I have another 6-7 devices that use same AP and they have no issues reconnecting
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@ozarn, have you tried steps #1 and #2 in Nicholas's post of May 30, 2018?
Are you on firmware 4.0.1134 for the Touch HD? The release notes for that firmware, which was released October 6, 2020, makes reference to:
- A separate experimental mode WIFI reconnect algorithm has been added.
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Hi Ed111,
thanks for your response.
I am on the latest firmware, just double-checked it. 4.0.1134. I'd be happy to provide access to developers to debug.
I tried step #2 several times, to forget the network. Not the step #1.
I am thinking to get a USB to ethernet adapter as indicated in this thread: https://support.rainmachine.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360026343253-RainMachine-HD-hanging-periodically?page=4#comments
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Step #1 definitely worked for me when I was having this trouble some time ago. (I don't know whether that option is still in the latest firmware.)
My RM Touch HD is located about 3 feet from my Xfinity modem/router, through 1 sheetrock and wood stud wall. The wifi connection to my RM has been strong in this spot. (Can't give you the exact signal strength as I am not there now and the RM is off for the winter.) If your RM is at a similar distance, I really don't think you need to go through the effort to try another wifi adapter, but it's up to you.
You say you have your RM on a schedule to go off and on. Is this an AC power disconnection and reconnection each time? If not, have you tried rebooting the RM?
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Thanks, It does not hurt to try. I'll do the #1 and report back.
My signal strength is excellent, 3-4 feet away and no obstacles. They are almost next to each other. I re-did my entire home wiring this summer, including valve wires connected to RD. I planned RD and other devices in garage to be close to AP without any interference.
My AP is Cisco and its reporting excellent connection to RD
Performance: Signal Strength: -50 dBm Signal Quality: 45 dB Connection Speed: 144 Mbps Channel Width: 20 MHzCapabilities:802.11n (2.4GHz)Spatial Stream: 2 -
The more I think about it, my issue may have been different than what you are experiencing. My problem was that when my Xfinity modem/router would reboot after getting an unattended firmware update, the RM's wifi connection would not reestablish itself. Keeping the screen on dim setting somehow resolved this issue.
If I understand correctly, with your schedule you are powering down the RM but not your router, and then turning on the RM.
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I'll try that to see if it changes anything.
one odd thing is that I have an AP1 in middle of my house, that has a decent connection to the RM & RM can connect to this AP. This AP never goes down and it can cover entire home. When my AP3 in garage gets turned off, why RM would not connect to AP1 thats still on?
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